On Tuesday, the New York Red Bulls announced they were re-signing defender Kemar Lawrence to a multi-year deal, which brought great joy to not only Lawrence, but also the coaching staff and his teammates.
“We think he is a special talent, has a lot of personality and has given everything to the club in these years and he continues to do it,” Head Coach Chris Armas said. “He gets rewarded, we get rewarded to lock him in for a few years, it’s great. He’s one of the best if not the best left back in the league.”
When asked about Lawrence and what makes him so special, Armas went in depth to describe his outside back.
“When we look for defenders on this team, we like guys that love to defend first and when you look how fast he is, how much pride he puts into defending, winning one-one battles and then you see the growth that he has made understanding how to play with the backline and has challenged himself to even get forward more,” Armas said. “He’s getting more assists these last couple of years, so he’s just an athlete with a lot of personality, plays fearless, we think he puts fear in attackers and again he fits in so well to our philosophy and group.”
Lawrence, who’s been with the club since 2015, was happy to securing his future for a club that believes in what he brings both on and off the field, and now the focus is helping bringing championships back to New York.
“It always feels good to sign a contract, helps to secure your future and also means right now is about really being settled down and winning some games,” Lawrence said. “It shows that the club believes in you and believes that you are the type of player that will bring them to a level they need to be at to bring them to championships.”
Aaron Long, who has played next to Lawrence for a couple of seasons now, and has built a strong relationship with his teammate, touched on what it’s going to be like playing next to him for many years to come.
“I mean he is one of those guys that I love and if I had to choose any left back in the league, it’d be him every time and he knows that,” Long said. “We have a great relationship so, it’s extremely exciting, stoked that he’s going to be back there with me for sure.”
